‘Butt dial’ voicemail may have captured woman’s plea for life

INDIO, Calif. – Jill Grant and her boyfriend Michael Franco had planned to throw a party on Dec. 23, 2013. But when guests showed up to their gated neighborhood in Indio, Calif., they couldn’t get in, and Franco told them the party was off.

Grant’s brother called police—who by that time had already recovered Grant’s body. Prosecutors say Franco killed the 41-year-old high school math teacher, and the Desert Sun now reports that an inadvertent voicemail may have captured the final desperate moments of her life.

Prosecutors allege Franco first cut his girlfriend’s throat, then ran her over with a car and deposited her body at a nearby golf course; KESQ reports a box cutter and Toyota Prius are listed as the weapons used in the criminal complaint.

The voicemail in question is one left by Franco’s phone to a friend’s number in an apparent butt dial, per court documents. Though the Desert Sun reports it’s largely inaudible, Grant is heard saying this: “What if I drive the car someplace and call [911] myself and say I was attacked? Would that work? But we can think of something to say like (inaudible) … What do you want me to say?” Among the other alleged evidence against Franco, who has pleaded not guilty: Franco took money out of an ATM using Grant’s card on the night of her death, and when apprehended by police reportedly told them he was trying to flee to Mexico.

A cell mate claims Franco confessed to him, saying Franco said he ran her over when she tried to get away from him. Palm Desert Patch reports he faces life with parole.